A Taste of Love: The Rise of the Roses
by KariHina94
Summary: What could happen when Hayate introduces Ayane and Ryu, but they already know each other? What could happen when Lei Fang lets a "stranger" in her home and shows him hospitality? What could possibly happen? Nothing that could change their lives, right? -


**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DEAD OR ALIVE OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS!!**

**_A Taste of Love: The Rise of the Roses_**

Chapter 1

Ayane lay on the grass with her eyes closed and a soft breeze blowing through her lavender-colored hair and caressing her  
pale creamy skin. The large tree above her which was growing lushly, provided shade for the young kunoichi. She was deeply relaxed in the quiet, serene area she was in.

"Ahh…" she sighed, opening her eyes and starting to get up. She was extremely bored and it was the spring season, she had no company and was starting to feel a little lonesome.

'_Whatever…' _she thought, _'I don't need anyone anyways for anything' _she assured herself, walking into the doorway of her home.

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Young ninja Ryu Hayabusa walked to the edge of a small lake, where he usually came to fish. But for some odd reason, today, fishing didn't seem quite so appealing to him, but nevertheless, he cast his wooden rod into the water. After a short while, he packed his things, sighed, and walked along the earth which was damp and little shoots of green plants were starting to come up. _'It's spring…' _he thought.

Suddenly, he heard a sweet, melodious voice coming from somewhere nearby. Curious, Ryu started to follow the mysterious voice. It was the voice of a young lady, who could be seen a short distance from where Ryu was standing. She had short, straight, light purple hair and was wearing a short, black jean skirt and a violet tank top. Her skin seemed to glow in the sunlight. She was walking into a small house and she closed the door. Arching an eyebrow, Ryu turned and continued walking, and thought _'I think I've seen her before…' _He shook his head and with a smile continued to walk to his house in the village.

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Lei Fang sat beside her window at her table eating her dinner, Lo Mein and Fried rice. Outside it was pouring rain, thunder was crashing and she could see magnificent bolts of lightning. All around the small house there were sweet smelling candles that were burning. She was wearing white silk pajamas and her hair was wrapped neatly in a braided bun at the back of her head. As she picked at her food in boredom, she glanced out her window when she heard a loud boom of thunder and she saw a tall, dark, robust figure trudging down the path with the rain pelting the person in heavy hard-falling drops.

'_I should help whoever it is outside.' _she thought, getting up and throwing on her coat and grabbing an umbrella. Walking out of the house, she ran to the figure, which strangely, looked familiar. The boom of the thunder was earsplitting! Slightly frightened, she darted to the person and placed her hand on the person's shoulder.

"Excuse me… I was wondering if--" Lei Fang began before another crash of thunder and the show of lightning interrupted her. The light allowed her sight and she was able to see the person's face.

"Jann Lee?" she said in both astonishment and bewilderment.

"Lei Fang?" he replied in equal confusion. "What do YOU want?" he asked in his usual cold and uncaring manner.

The girl looked at him in disgust. Trying not to be blunt, she said, "I came to see if I could assist whoever it was outside that was walking in the rain." frowning at him.

"No, thank you. I don't need any help from you, I'm fine." he said rudely. Just then, a deafening crash of thunder was heard and he made the slightest jolt.

"Are you crazy? You think I'm gonna just say ok and let you be on your way in the pounding rain?" she asked him, as it started to rain even harder.

"Yes! I do!" the young man exclaimed.

"Then you're out of your mind. I'm bringing you inside. I don't even know why you are around here, but your place is nowhere near here." Jann Lee started to retort, but Lei Fang cut him off and looked him in the eye. "Shut up… Let's go." she said defiantly, turning around.

Jann was surprised that she told him that, something, that he wouldn't think _she _would say to him. He grumbled and they walked together under her umbrella, which was small so they were uncomfortably close. Jann Lee continuously cleared his throat and looked up so that he wouldn't see the annoying woman or their closeness. They both felt uncomfortable until they walked up the steps and into the house. They were relieved that they weren't in such close proximity.

Lei Fang hurried in and put her coat away while Jann stood like a statue in the doorway.

"Come in and shut the door!" she said and he did as told.

She got two warm towels and handed it to him. "Here"

He just took it in his hands and muttered a "Thanks" under his breath.

Taking a pot from her cabinet, Lei Fang began to prepare and cook a hot vegetable soup. As she stirred it with a small ladle, they both could feel the absurd awkwardness of their long, tedious silence.

The man that was present in her house didn't really want to be and he hated uncomfortable and awkward silences. He didn't get them often, and he didn't have to deal with bothersome women. Several of the encounters he had with women was in the Dead Or Alive tournament, and he didn't care if they got hurt. Even at his job as a bouncer he very seldom had to deal with the opposite sex. Plus, the ones he saw there were usually sluts and whores.

"So you were gonna run outside in the rain to help some stranger? You didn't even think about if the person you were going to _"help" _hostile or dangerous. That's completely foolish. What would you do then? Scream and hope someone will help you? Ha! " he snickered.

Keeping her temper in check, she poured out the piping hot hearty vegetable soup. "No Jann…" she said as she turned to face him, and then set down the soup on the table. "Eat." she instructed, giving him a soup spoon as he sat down in the chair. He silently sipped the delicious soup.

"To tell you the truth, I was sort of compelled to help whoever it was out there, which turned out to be you… _'Unfortunately' _she thought_. _And just so you know, I can take care of myself now; it's not the same since you saved me from the gang of thugs. I thought you knew that, because you know I didn't lose the Dead or Alive tournament without giving you a bruise… and probably more than that." she said with a great grin.

Jann Lee glared at her for a second and smirked, then without a word, continued to eat his soup.

"So why were you out here so late?" she inquired, putting some Fried rice and Lo Mein in her mouth_. _

"I was training."

"By my house?" she asked her dark brow arching.

"I didn't know you lived by my training area" he said. _'And I really didn't care.' _he thought to himself.

"Where's that?" she asked.

"It's by a small lake farther into the woods."

"Oh…" she said.

"This is good, by the way." he said quietly, complimenting her on the cooking, and changing the subject. She thanked him and he finished the remnants of his food.

"You're going to need some dry clothes, but I'm afraid I don't have any clothes that will fit you… Oh well." she said.

"I'm fine Lei Fang."

"No, I don't want you to get sick." she said, walking in a small cozy room. She came out a moment later holding up a tiny pink shirt."

"NO!" Jann said, before she could even say anything. "I'm not putting that thing on!"

"It's the biggest shirt I have." she told him, shrugging, and feeling like laughing at him, but stifling her giggles.

"Do you have a dryer?" he asked hopefully.

"Nope."

"A clothesline?"

"Yeah, but you can't use it, it's raining outside…"

"A hairdryer?"

"No."

"Woman! Please! Don't you have any electronics in your house?"

"Yeah! I do! I have a TV, a VCR, a DVD player, a CD player, a heater…"

"Ok, Ok. But I'm not gonna wear that pink frilly thing!" he said.

"Well, ok. I'll see what I can get."

She disappeared into the room again and brought out three large blue and white striped sheets. "They're sheets, Jann." she said reasonably. "They're big and I have some pins you can use to pin it up.

Sighing, Jann Lee said, "Alright…uh, where can I change?"

"Down the hall in the room to your left." she said, giving him another warm towel.

"Thanks" he said quietly and walking to the room.

When he entered the room, there were scents of rose and berries. "I'm gonna look ridiculous." he whispered to himself pitifully as he began to change. _'I'm in a woman's house and she is __commanding__ ME to wear sheets? She's taking away my dignity! The dignity of a man! How can I let this girl do this to me? It's preposterous.' _he thought, sighing, and stripping off the heavily damp clothes that stuck to his body until he was completely naked.

He felt very weird and out of place, but he continued to dry his skin with the warm towel that smelled of vanilla and lavender. As he picked up the sheets and pins, he thought _'You have got to be kidding me. No, no way.' _

He walked out of the room, feeling really stupid, to see Lei Fang washing the dishes. He felt very sheepish but still maintained the roughness in his voice.

"Lei, I look like I'm in a freakin' man-dress!!" he exclaimed.

Lei Fang tried not to laugh, and Jann Lee looked annoyed at her.

"Sorry." she said, shrugging, her lips curving into a slightly mocking smile.

Jann started to mutter something under his breath.

The sheets were bound tightly around his body, nothing covering him except the sheets.

"Hey, do you want to watch a movie?" Lei asked quietly.

"Not really…" he replied monotonously.

"I want to though." she said.

"Whatever." he said icily.

"What do you wanna watch?" she asked, ignoring him.

"If I have a choice, then an action movie." he said, crossing his arms.

"An action movie?" Lei asked, scrunching her small nose.

"Yeah."

"But I don't like action movies, plus, I don't have many of them. I want to watch a comedy, romance, or a drama."

Jann twisted his mouth in disdain.

Lei looked at him dimly and sighed.

"Fine." she said to him.

He picked out the movie, starring Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Lucy Liu.

They sat parallel to each other on the couch with a space between them.

Jann Lee was into the movie and made exclamations like "Wataah!" but the thing he didn't like was that Lucy Liu was being kind of vulgar in her attempts to sway the enemies into their trap. _'Women…' _he thought.

Lei Fang on the other hand, was bored out of her mind and started to drift off to sleep. She sank lightly on Jann's inner shoulder, and he didn't know until he felt her soft hair and the warmth of her upper body.

He decided to be nice for once, and not do anything. He continued to watch the film when he felt something slide down his chest and sink softly into his lap. He began to feel very uncomfortable.

'_The woman has to interrupt me! Damn.' _he thought, irritated a little.

Lei Fang murmured something about a soft teddy bear. She had a sweet childish smile on her face as her legs slid up and she curled into a ball. Her hands moved and her fingers reached the long shaft in between his legs that was covered in the sheet.

Jann Lee's eyes widened and darkened. He looked down at Lei Fang to see her caressing his manhood and holding it close to her warm cheek.

'_No more of this crap. I'm not taking any of this nonsense anymore. Hell no.' _he thought.

"Lei Fang…" he said shaking her gently. "Get up" he said.

She heard the rough whispering, and she got up awkwardly and began to rub her eyes.

"Jann Lee?" she said groggily.

"You fell asleep; I think you need to go to bed."

She got up, her legs feeling like Jell-O and wobbling and she stretched her arms saying, "Ok, well, alright, just take everything off and um, you can sleep on the couch."

Jann shrugged and nodded.

Lei yawned and said, "Goodnight." She disappeared into the room.

Jann Lee no longer found interest in the movie. Sighing, he pressed the power button on the television and DVD player. He looked at the couch and stared at it in despair. It was hard, and Jann needed some comfort after his long day.

At work, some gang members were causing some trouble and one managed to cut a small, but deep gash in his lower chest. And after hours of training and walking in the pounding rain, he did not want to sleep on a hard couch.

He stealthily walked over to the small, cozy room Lei Fang went into. In the room was Lei, her small figure curled up on the bed. A queen size bed, with a space unoccupied. The bed looked so enticing, so inviting…

'_No, it's not right.' _he thought, scolding himself for those thoughts.

"Ah to hell with it," he said in a whisper to himself, walking quietly into the room, going onto the bed, and pulling the soft covers over his already sheet-clad body.

When Jann was lightly sleeping, which wasn't too long, since he needed the rest, Lei Fang suddenly turned in her sleep and wrapped her arms around Jann Lee and she breathed deeply and heavily on his neck, which felt like feathers brushing on his calloused skin. He felt the soothing warmth of her breath and body, and the soft silk material from her thin clothing. He didn't really care, and besides, he was sleeping. It didn't feel uncomfortable then. He slid his arms beneath her body and gently pulled her closer to him until there was no space between their bodies. He wrapped his hands firmly around her waist. Jann Lee evoked a low moan of comfort. They were both very relaxed and slept soundly throughout the night.

When morning came, the sun shone through her bedroom window. Jann Lee was gone but there was a note with something scribbled on it and a yellow daffodil from her garden in a vase on her nightstand. It said, "Lei Fang, thank you for letting me stay."

Next to her, the sheets were a little wrinkled and she could warmth beside her. Her brows knitted together in confusion. _'OH. MY. GOD!!'_thought the girl, bringing her hands to her mouth, her eyes wide and as big as the moon, in amazement and disbelief.

"Jann Lee slept _with _ME!" she said, still in shock, falling back one her pillow, her lips twisting into a smile and her cheeks burning a slight pinkish red.

"I can't believe it."

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End file.
